MARKELL HAS 37 EXTRA RACES TO WATCH

Jack Markell is not on the ballot this year, but he
still has a lot riding on Election Day.

It goes beyond even the considerable interest a
governor has in the races for the Delaware General
Assembly, where both chambers currently are in the
control of friendly Democrats.

At least, mostly friendly Democrats, as long as
Markell is not doing something like proposing to
eliminate the state Finance Department. Not only was it
a dubious concept, but there was a perfectly good job as
finance secretary that could go to Tom Cook, the son of
Nancy Cook, a Democratic state senator. Never mind.

For this campaign season Markell is the chair of the
Democratic Governors Association.

It means his ballot watching will extend later and
more distantly on Election Night, past the time it takes
to confirm just how many Delaware voters came out of
their polling places while they hummed
ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead.

"My first interest will be the statewide races here,
alongside and equal to the state House and state Senate
races. Then I'll be checking our incumbent governors,
and if we can win in Florida and California, two huge
states, they would be great pickups," Markell said.

Martin O'Malley, the Democratic governor in
neighboring Maryland, is on Markell's list to check, as
is Deval Patrick, running for re-election in a close
race in Massachusetts, and Ted Strickland, the
endangered incumbent in Ohio. Alex Sink in Florida and
Jerry Brown in California are in open races that could
flip two governorships to the Democrats.

It seems to be somewhat of a curious assignment for
Markell, who accepted the yearlong post last December,
when he had only been a governor himself for about 11
months in a state searching for its economic footing.

Furthermore, Markell does not have a reputation for
partisan warfare, not to mention his side is not exactly
favored to win. Mid-term elections typically cost
governorships to the president's party, more so amid a
rocky economy and poll numbers reflecting presidential
disapproval.

There are 37 governorships up for election. The
current lineup is 26 Democratic governors and 24
Republican governors (including Florida where Charlie
Crist switched to unaffiliated to run for the Senate.)
Most predictions call for the Republicans to gain seven
or eight.

Markell reasoned he ought to take the post because of
the collateral benefit for Delaware through the
connections he could make with potential employers.

It is a less cynical explanation than the
conventional political take on it -- which is that the
chair usually goes to a Democratic governor who is not
up for election and not regarded as vulnerable at home.
It is a small universe.

"This was a very good opportunity for me to expand
the number of people we can talk to about Delaware and
get in front of people who can create jobs or move
jobs," Markell said.

Tom Carper and Mike Castle, both of whom know
something about being governor, thought Markell was
smart to accept the job. Carper was the Democratic
governor from 1993 to 2001 before he went to the Senate,
and Castle was the Republican governor from 1985 to 1993
before he moved to the House of Representatives.

They both spent time on a larger stage, too, Carper
as a chair of the National Governors Association and
Castle as a chair of the Southern Governors Association.

"It enables you to establish a higher profile for
your state. If you happen to be the governor of a small
state with fewer than a million people, it helps you
maximize your opportunities. I think he saw that and
acted on it," said Carper.

"It's a recognition by his fellow Democrats that he's
capable of helping them with their fund-raising
activities, so it's clearly a feather in his cap," said
Castle.

Still, this is one of those can't-get-no-respect
things for the political crowd at home, where the focus
is, as always, on what is in it for them. One leading
Republican said in surprise, "Is he? I didn't know he
was."

It is all right with Markell. "My job is to make them
care, if some of the contacts I make, make things happen
here," he said.

If the reward is somewhat vague, at least the risk
is, too. Markell's standing is not tied to any potential
losses of the Democratic candidates. Barack Obama should
be so lucky.

Markell has done some traveling -- for example, he
was briefly in Florida and Rhode Island this week -- but
it is nothing like the road show of his Republican
counterpart.

The chair of the Republican Governors Association is
Haley Barbour of Mississippi. He is a former chair of
the national Republican Party, a possible presidential
candidate in 2012 and maybe the only prominent
officeholder who actually did a heck-of-a-job after
Katrina.

Barbour is about to start a "Remember November Tour"
through 13 states in five days with a bunch of other
frontline Republican governors. He is getting breathless
coverage.

Such are the political tides. The Democrats have
Markell because he figured the job could bring him a
bigger profile, and the Republicans have Barbour because
they figured he could bring a bigger profile to the job.